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Gardening Australia 2025 Episode 16
Transcript
00:00WHOOHOO!
00:02WHOOHOO!
00:05Hey!
00:06Hi!
00:07WHOOHOO!
00:10Ooh.
00:13WHOOHOO!
00:16HEY!
00:18Hey, honey.
00:20Hey!
00:22Hey!
00:23Hello and welcome to Gardening Australia this week we're coming to you from the biggest
00:48garden show in the southern hemisphere and what a treat for the three of us to
00:53be together it doesn't happen that often. No and what a joy to be here at the
00:58Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show because not everyone gets to
01:03visit shows like this we're gonna be your virtual guides. It's true there is so
01:08much to see including those show gardens where they demonstrate so many
01:13different ideas we're gonna have a look. Now the big gardens can be really
01:18aspirational but we're going to have a look around at all of the smaller and
01:23different spaces around here that will give you lots of ideas and inspiration
01:28to try at your place. I'll be showing you some of the amazing floral art in the
01:33Royal Exhibition building. And I'll be telling you a little bit about the
01:37history of the building. I'm gonna see a special garden and it's all about this
01:42place and its plants. And of course this show is about plants and Jane is gonna
01:47take us behind the scenes to meet one of the wonderful growers. I'm gonna be
01:52visiting one of my favorite displays the hanging baskets and showing you how to
01:56make your own. And we'll be answering your gardening questions live right here at
02:01the show. So what do you reckon team? I reckon we need to divide and explore.
02:06Absolutely. I'll see you.
02:12While there are plenty of planty things on offer we're going to start with the main
02:21event. The freshly built show gardens that dominate the Melbourne Exhibition
02:26Gardens. There are seven competitors in this category. These are the most ambitious
02:34and large-scale installations of the show. Teams have just a week to transport,
02:39assemble and plant their entry, whilst taking care to leave no impact on the ground.
02:44There's no digging or modifying the earth allowed at all. Everything you see here will be removed when the show is over.
02:54Each entry is labeled with the name of just one principal designer. But as all the designers will tell you, none of these gardens can happen without the collaborative effort of a big team over many months.
03:04Ben Hutchinson's garden between moments has a stunning natural swimming pool, which people will be able to swim in. But because there's no chemicals, birds, insects and wildlife will love it as well.
03:13Ben Hutchinson's garden between moments has a stunning natural swimming pool, which people will be able to swim in. But because there's no chemicals, birds, insects and wildlife will love it as well.
03:28I wanted to create a garden that would show someone that you could put a space in your own backyard to get away from the craziness of life, somewhere you can just retreat to for a little bit of mindfulness, a little bit of health relaxation.
03:40So we've got the sauna and the swim pond up the back, surrounded by a beautiful, subtle native garden.
03:46Adding water like this, it really invites nature, doesn't it?
03:50Absolutely. It's just clean, fresh water. The amount of wildlife these things bring into a backyard is phenomenal.
03:55Is it true that a frog found this fairly shortly after you built it?
03:59Yeah, we found a southern brown tree frog floating around, not even sure where it came from.
04:04Yeah, it's probably still in the garden somewhere.
04:06So it really is an example of build it and they'll come.
04:09Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah, we've already had dragonflies floating around as well. So it's been amazing.
04:14Any particular plants you're really fond of?
04:17Ooh, that's a really tough question. I'm a big fan of the Thai Lotus.
04:20It's a bit tough to grow in Melbourne, but it's an absolutely stunning, really unique plant.
04:24And the Richia drachophylla, I think that was a really good textural contrast for the garden.
04:29Yeah, it's a beautiful little addition.
04:44Christian Jenkins also uses water in his garden, Yutori.
04:49His modern Japanese design includes a palette of cycads, Japanese maples, bamboo and conifers.
04:56The garden surrounds a tiny house that demonstrates the possibilities of paring back to the essentials.
05:03That, of course, includes a sauna and an ice bath.
05:12Look at this. I love this car.
05:14Yeah, wow.
05:15Paul Pritchard's richly planted family home garden is distinctly mid-century modern in style.
05:22Named nostalgia, it aims to evoke a time when families spent time together working in the garden.
05:31Wow.
05:32Just the architecture and then the style of the gardens that they're depicting here. Wow.
05:38It's such an iconic kind of image of 1950s Australia, isn't it?
05:42Yeah, 100%.
05:43None of the plants are from here, but that's kind of what was...
05:49Where it was at.
05:50Yeah.
05:51I feel like I've visited houses like this.
05:56That was my dream first car.
05:58My dad and I looked at quite a few.
06:00I never did it, but that was the car I wanted.
06:06I love this. There's even plants in the paving.
06:08I mean, from a detail point of view, it means it'll catch and slow down water.
06:12Totally.
06:13But look at this.
06:14This has taken me back to my childhood because that's how our bicycles used to lay on the grass.
06:21It's so beautiful though.
06:22Like, it's telling us this is a family garden, right?
06:25And it's doing exactly what it's titled.
06:28Nostalgia.
06:29Yeah.
06:30It is nostalgic.
06:31It's capturing these evocative moments that really mean something.
06:35It's taken me back there and the grass and the lawn, which was such a big thing of houses then.
06:41Yeah.
06:42You know, there was so much yard.
06:44And the planting.
06:45I mean, it's of a time gone by really, isn't it?
06:48But it says so much about how much people would have tended their gardens.
06:52Like, that's what you spend your Sunday doing.
06:54tabii.
06:55Escap by Rob Cooper is a place for peace and reflection.
07:06Tall, textured grasses move in the breeze.
07:09Still water brings the sky down to earth, and the central stone fire pit is a place to
07:16contemplate or bring people together.
07:19The garden's sort of been designed, it's like a place you can go and escape and just relax and, you know, get back to nature, get back to yourself.
07:26We tried to do a predominantly native green garden, we wanted a lush green space with shape and form.
07:33Put some really hard, clean elements of the architecture into it, it's just a really nice softening with all the grasses and the stone and everything like that.
07:42Rob and his team are based in South Australia, adding long distance transport to the logistical challenge of assembling their garden.
07:52Yeah, we've got three semi loads of materials here, we've got a truck and a half loads of plants here and every person who's built on the garden has all come over as well.
08:01So it's been a challenge but it's something we really wanted to do and we wanted to represent South Australia and show you how well we can do in the landscape industry.
08:09It's a lot, a lot of work but really proud to be able to walk in and have a gold medal and, yeah, really good.
08:19This garden by Jason Hodges is called Doable.
08:23The design sets out to prove that a beautiful garden can be created with inexpensive and easily accessible materials.
08:31Making a point of using store-bought pavers, affordable timber and using a lot of plants that are easy to get hold of and propagate yourself.
08:43Just watch it climb around the bathroom and then up over the mirror.
08:49Our team, by the way.
08:59So, fun to see so many people fire up about plants and gardening.
09:03Yeah, and I think the thing I love is just the energy, like, because there's that anticipation.
09:09You see a garden and then, oh, hang on, we're on approach here.
09:12Look at this one.
09:15The designer of this garden, Matt York, is showcasing lessons that he's learned from all around the world.
09:23We've been working in Africa more recently, so our garden titled In Ratio With Africa looks at some of the learnings in Kenya, Ghana and Nigeria around small garden design and just how efficient small garden design has been in terms of small footprint and
09:41looking at pollination and looking at pollination, urban canopy, water security and all of these things in sort of high performing landscapes but in a small setting.
09:51The Bird Motel is a structure that we designed around biodiversity and habitat.
09:56It comes with a series of nests and perches.
10:01The idea came from how we could have something sculptural and a key part of the design that had a really strong function in terms of
10:10local and migratory birds.
10:12So we often think about Melbourne as it is now a leading world city, but there's still so much that we can learn to facilitate the growth that we are experiencing.
10:21And I think the role that landscape and gardening plays is significant.
10:25And so to have a platform like this at Carlton Gardens, I just think that's an incredible opportunity and I love being a part of that.
10:33In the glow of the Royal Exhibition Building is Brent Reid's Garden Ode.
10:41From the bold structural shapes to the soft plantings of evergreens and perennials, all elements of the garden are deeply symbolic.
10:49This garden is the most personal garden I've ever brought to the show.
10:55It's called Ode and it's a thank you and an ode to my mentors and people who have guided me and led me through my journey in the industry.
11:06So the trees are about legacy and the lasting legacy left by people, you know, strong figures in the industry and people who have left the industry.
11:17The water feature is about sharing of information and ideas and we've left a void in the centre of the water feature for people that when they leave the industry or they pass on, if that knowledge hasn't been passed on, it leaves a void.
11:32And Marty, you're one of those mentors and you've been tasked with building this garden.
11:36Yeah, lucky.
11:38How many gardens have you built in the history of this show?
11:41Well over 90.
11:43Wow.
11:44What's it like when you're presented with four large dead trees?
11:48Yeah, well it's got a logistical problem.
11:51One is nothing goes in the ground so there's no footings, no anything.
11:55There's a metre of these trees below the ground.
11:58They're on big plates which are actually old grader blades that we got off a farm that are really heavy.
12:05And then we have to lay the trees down and cut them with a chainsaw to get them to sit.
12:12I've worked with sticks myself, they're not straight up and down.
12:15Then a crane turns up and puts the pond in and it puts the four trees in and we hope.
12:21Where have these come from?
12:23They've come from a development site but the best part about it is if we're able to educate people a little bit about these trees and they're able to tell a story and then they're going to go back to the site and have habitat planted around them so they'll then continue their life.
12:39I mean, old trees, dead trees are really important.
12:43Hugely important, especially for wildlife habitat, insects, bugs, birds, everything.
12:50It's pretty amazing, isn't it?
12:52All that thought and planning and collaboration and work to get to this for five days but it's a pretty beautiful result.
13:02It really is because you think of how busy this space is.
13:07There's thousands of people wandering around and yet here we are feeling relaxed and comfortable and at home.
13:15Makes you want to put the kettle on.
13:18I'm up for that.
13:20This year is the 28th anniversary of the Melbourne Flower and Garden Show.
13:35Set in the beautiful Carlton Gardens and home to an iconic landmark, the heritage listed Royal Exhibition Building.
13:45Built in 1880 thanks to the discovery of gold, this grand structure was designed by prolific architect Joseph Reed and built by Dame Nellie Melba's father, David Mitchell.
14:13Its striking dome was once the tallest building in Melbourne.
14:21Originally built to stage the world's great fair, to show off Melbourne's technological and cultural achievements, it was also a site of many significant milestones in Australia's more recent history.
14:38In 1901, this grandiose building would host Australia's first sitting of parliament, being the city's only location big enough to accommodate the 12,000 guests.
14:50In celebration, the exterior of the building was illuminated with 10,000 lights.
14:57Almost 20 years later, after World War I, it served as a makeshift hospital when the Spanish flu hit the nation in 1919.
15:09Then, in the early 40s, the building was used as a barracks and training ground for the RAAF, who built Nissan huts and used the gardens for trench digging practice.
15:21Then, post-World War II, those huts were used to house refugees and migrants.
15:281956 saw the Melbourne venue host Olympic events for the basketball, wrestling and weightlifting competitions.
15:37And during the 90s, the Royal Exhibition Building started hosting the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show.
15:45It's a wonderful venue for a simply stunning display of all things floral.
15:50The biggest flower and garden show in the Southern Hemisphere, attracting more than 100,000 people across its five days.
16:01This iconic Melbourne landmark has a rich and colourful history.
16:05And today, at this incredible event celebrating all things gardens and flowers,
16:11this building is housing some of the more delicate displays of the show.
16:16And I know it's one of Sophie's favourites, the floral art.
16:31Welcome to the Great Hall of Flowers.
16:34The landmark Melbourne Exhibition Building has been transformed into a floral wonderland of colour and intoxicating fragrance.
16:48Leading Australian and international florists and artists have created a dreamland in here, showcasing the art of flowers.
16:56There's a floral fashion exhibit by RMIT's fashion design students.
17:01Glorious hanging installations suspended from the ceilings.
17:05And a retail flower market where visitors can buy blooms to take home to remember their day at the show.
17:12There are huge displays by established florists who've been given three days to install their breathtaking floral creations.
17:19Down to student designers who compete to create their arrangements in just three hours.
17:25Someone who's virtually got flower petals running through his veins is florist, designer and teacher, Greg Milner.
17:37Congratulations, you've taken out the top floral design gong.
17:43Tell me about your design.
17:45Well the theme this year was Monet's garden and also to challenge yourself with regard to colour and doing the things that Monet really did within his era.
17:55And that was a challenge and a great deal of fun doing all these different combinations but it's a beautiful sea of flowers.
18:02Changes of colour, changes of texture and I feel that we have created Monet's look and we've even got a succulent water lily.
18:12Not a true water lily but it's our Australian version and that's sitting in water as a water lily would.
18:19What goes into making a good display?
18:22A lot of forethought and a lot of knowledge.
18:24I mean a lot of people think oh you can just play with flowers and put it together.
18:27It's been my whole lifetime and yes you do train very formally.
18:31It is a three year apprenticeship to train.
18:34A lot to learn.
18:35All your mechanics must be completely concealed.
18:38Finer details.
18:39So a lot of things that the public might notice and a lot of care and attention goes into making these breathtaking displays.
18:45Oh absolutely and your flower knowledge.
18:47How long a flower will last.
18:49Particularly the weather.
18:50Melbourne has been so wonderful.
18:52But if it gets warm in here there's no air con.
18:54I'm not a great fan of air con with flowers anyway.
18:56But you do learn what they can do, what they can't do.
18:59Because these have to look beautiful all the way through the show.
19:08I think just a profusion of different flowers that the public can come in and just absolutely feast their eyes and enjoy.
19:14Just love it.
19:16And to be honest, all the years I've been in it, I still love it with a passion myself.
19:26What a treat getting to spend time in this floral fantasy land.
19:29There's so much inspiration here.
19:31I'm going to spend a bit longer wandering to take in the best that floral artistry has to offer.
19:37While this building and garden holds much of Melbourne's recent history, it's been a special place for First Nations people who have gathered here for tens of thousands of years.
19:59It's true and it doesn't really matter where you garden, you're always gardening on country and there's a really special garden this year that is telling the story of this place.
20:09The garden is named Wurundjeri Big Barn and it's a collaboration between Wurundjeri Woiwurrung people and the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria.
20:28Oh wow.
20:29Some people go home at the end of the day and some people take off their shoes and walk into their lounge room but this is home for us.
20:41Every time we're out and we see this amount of diversity in these kind of areas, that's home to Indigenous people because that's where we've always resided, was within country and healthy country.
20:56We're tricked into thinking that, you know, these suburban areas and these really built up CBDs is what Australia is.
21:04But that's not a representation of what Australia is.
21:06This is a representation of what Australia is.
21:11And tasked with the design of this Wurundjeri garden were Andrew Laidlaw and Susannah Kennett-Lister.
21:23The overall theme is water and the richness of water and wetland environments.
21:29The actual path represents the Birrarung or what was once the Yarra River.
21:33The Birrarung threads its way through there and ultimately through these wetlands and salt marshes before it arrives at the sea.
21:40So this year we tried to really focus on those rich swamp lagoons and wetlands that used to exist all around Melbourne.
21:49And I think one of the things that really came through in the conversations that we had is that the waterways provided everything.
21:56You know, we have to tell the story of Eyuk the eel, short finned eel in this garden.
22:01That was a major food source and they have their own incredible story and it's all interconnected.
22:06And just like the waterways that would flow all the way across Naam and Melbourne, everything links in to one another in this garden.
22:14So the garden kind of goes through different ecosystems or ecotypes, is that right?
22:18Yeah, we've represented a number of different plant communities in this garden.
22:22As you enter our garden, you will walk through the swamp paperbark forest and you move through that swamp paperbark forest into the riparian zones,
22:31which features plants that grow along the waterways.
22:33And as you move through further, you start to get towards the kind of swamp and brackish marshlands and into a kind of more sand dune environment.
22:42And you'll see the seaweed threaded throughout the plants and that will take you around the outside of our garden.
22:48We also have a basalt ridge.
22:51So many, many years ago before colonial settlement, there used to be a basalt ridge crossing the Birrarung River, the Yarra River.
22:58And we have emulated that ridge by putting a couple of basalt stones across the ponds.
23:05And it just brings that idea of walking and crossing the Birrarung River, which is what Wurundjeri and Wurundjeri people used to do.
23:12But what's critical is that we've done it with the Wurundjeri Council.
23:22So we've built up a relationship that is now built on trust and we've worked with the council to design this garden.
23:31Do you think that people will get some of the story as they leave?
23:35I definitely think they will.
23:37You know, people come through these areas and they see this garden and they notice it looks completely different to everyone.
23:41It looks completely different to everything else that's around here.
23:43But really, the more that we can start to reinstate some of this stuff, the more we start to see things like native birds come back.
23:49And that only helps to create that chain reaction and get us all coming together and get us to work towards something more sustainable,
23:55but not just for us humans, but for everything else that's involved as well.
23:58I'm from Townsville, North Queensland.
24:08We've had an extreme wet season up there.
24:10Lots and lots of flooding.
24:12Our gardens are decimated.
24:13They've either died or they're overgrown.
24:16And the soil is just awful.
24:19So what to do?
24:21Yes.
24:22Well, after big rains and strong winds, first of all, you need to check all your trees to make sure that there's no broken branches that could invite disease where they've ripped and torn the bark.
24:34So make sure you take off any broken limbs and take a little bit off the top just to stabilize any trees.
24:41The other thing, of course, the soil is very wet.
24:44So if you have mulch there, it's a good idea to peel it back and get a fork into the ground to get some oxygen and some air back into your soil.
24:55Now, as you said, it's all leached out.
24:57So you want to add some nutrients.
25:00So you want to get some compost in there, potentially some manures if you can get hold of them.
25:05And any pelletised manures can help.
25:08They can go down into those holes and break down.
25:11And that way, with worm castings and compost and some fertilisers, you'll rebuild the mineral content in your soil and things will start to feed again.
25:24Hey Wilbur, what do you need to know about your garden?
25:27How do you keep your azaleas flowering?
25:30Well, lots of water, lots of food, probably enough light is really important because most plants will respond to that.
25:37Different plants will have different flowering seasons, so not all of them will flower all year long.
25:43But if you can get them in the right spot, nice bright morning sun, nice rich soil, they like it acidic.
25:50Right? So quite a low pH.
25:52And give them a good liquid feed, I don't know, what, every month or couple of months, you'll get the best blooms you possibly can.
26:01How do I know when my kiwi fruit is ripe and ready to be picked?
26:07That's a really good question.
26:08And they're a fruit that's a bit hard to tell.
26:11So they ripen late in autumn, almost when the plant's dropping all its leaves off.
26:16And they don't ripen on the vine as such, they tend to ripen on your kitchen counter or something like that.
26:23So what I'd be doing is, towards the end of autumn, feel around if any fruit's starting to go a bit soft.
26:29Pick a few, leave them inside for a couple of days and see if they're ready.
26:33But they are one of those tricky ones, there's no defined rule.
26:36Like, you know, with an apple, when it's ready to pick, you just give it that twist and it comes off in your hand.
26:41But kiwi fruit are a little bit trickier.
26:43So wait till the end of autumn, try some, bring them inside to ripen and see how you're going.
26:56Now we're taking things down a notch.
26:59Not in quality, but in size.
27:02The gardens in this boutique category are each limited to five metres by five metres.
27:08With a much smaller footprint to play with, ideas and plants are even more concentrated.
27:17The competition in this category is always hotly contested.
27:21Teams enter a design concept and only a handful of finalists are chosen to bring their idea to life here at the show.
27:30Walking through all the different display gardens, it's been clear to see the underlying themes.
27:36Yes, it's all about a place of tranquility and respite for people to come and feel like they're getting away from the craziness of the world.
27:46But the other powerful theme throughout has been providing a place for nature.
27:54The plant palette we've used in this garden is 100% native plants to Australia.
27:59Over 60% of those plants are actually indigenous to the greater Melbourne region.
28:03I think people are receiving it really well.
28:05People are asking about the same few plants, like what's this?
28:08They're reaching out and feeling foliage.
28:10It's been really great.
28:11A few of those are the Tamazia discolour.
28:14A really beautiful plant with grey, green foliage.
28:17It also gets tiny little pink, purple flowers.
28:20But that's a standout, just the texture and the foliage.
28:24We've also got Xerichrysum viscosum.
28:26A really simple little plant.
28:28It's indigenous to the greater Melbourne region and beyond.
28:31And it just instantly attracts the little native pollinators.
28:34So even placing them the first few days on site, instantly we had trays of them just sitting next to the site.
28:40And we had pollinators come up and they were all over them straight away.
28:44Another favourite would be the Banksy rowber.
28:48You can prune it and train it to be really architectural.
28:51So I really love it for that diversity.
28:53It might not surprise you that I always love the gardens that are a little bit out of the box.
29:07And this year, this is absolutely that.
29:10It's talking about contamination of different sites and phytoremediation, which means that plants are such powerful organisms when it comes to repairing and healing the damage that we've already done to so much of our landscape.
29:24And it's got lots of species that people are going to be a bit surprised to see.
29:28Things like ivy, which in so many contexts is an environmental weed and should not be grown.
29:34But the other hat that Ivy wears is it's an incredibly good phytoremediator.
29:40It's good at cleaning up contaminated sites.
29:43And so this garden is not only incredibly cool to look at, it's also challenging us to look at plants and our landscapes and their role in our future.
29:55There's another category of small gardens that I always love to see.
29:59It's called the Avenue of Achievable Gardens.
30:02It's the space where emerging talent in horticulture and design have the opportunity to put their ideas on display.
30:09The plots are all five metres by four metres, so slightly smaller than the last ones.
30:16And another difference is that they're designed to be viewed from only the front.
30:21Oh, this is some of the students from Bendigo.
30:26I can see the ironbark used as mulch.
30:29It's so characteristic of that landscape.
30:31Yeah.
30:32Look at the artwork in the background.
30:35It's beautiful.
30:36Capturing the native species in the art.
30:39Oh, wow.
30:40Look at this.
30:41It's taking the corner out of the backyard, isn't it?
30:44So rather than thinking of that boundary space as narrow and awkward, it's an opportunity for a whole pallet of plants.
30:51That's so clever.
30:52Yeah.
30:53Oh, what a beautiful garden.
30:55Yeah, well done.
30:56Thank you so much.
30:57Fantastic.
30:58And I mean, look at the classic hills hoist.
31:03Look at the other details that are here.
31:05That's great.
31:06There is that creek line with a nice waterway with native plants.
31:12I love a cheeky garden.
31:14Oh.
31:15Whoa.
31:16Look at that pink wall.
31:17The flowers are popping off that feature wall.
31:20These are all Mexican plants.
31:24It's beautiful.
31:25Thank you so much.
31:26I know all about dahlias because my dad grows them.
31:29Really?
31:30Yeah.
31:31And dahlia is the national flower of Mexico.
31:32Yeah.
31:33So I included quite a few of them.
31:34Yeah, they're beautiful.
31:35Gosh, it's absolutely chockers.
31:38It is, isn't it?
31:39Yeah, it is.
31:40So many people.
31:41And my favourite was the very colourful bright pink.
31:45It's quite distinctive.
31:47I feel like that garden is basically me in a garden.
31:50I wonder why.
31:51Yeah, I wonder why.
31:52My favourite garden here at the show has got to be memories of a summer holiday.
31:56It was a smaller lawn but still had a cricket pitch and just some lovely plants for wildlife surrounding that.
32:01So just I thought it was a real contemporary take on a classic Australian backyard.
32:05I love the alafia australis.
32:07It just felt with everything growing up top.
32:10It was like a green hug for the space.
32:12It's very comforting to be in.
32:14I think for me it was the shades of green garden.
32:16I really like the dense, lush, overgrown look.
32:19And I'm a bit of a sucker for ferns.
32:21So anything with ferns I'm going to like.
32:24I really loved the, I think it's like an Italian themed one.
32:28It had a beautiful big old olive tree.
32:30Just stunning.
32:32Because we're from Italy.
32:34Yeah.
32:35We love the colours and all the flowers.
32:37Beautiful.
32:38Yeah.
32:39This section of the show feeds me Millie.
32:54Seeing the next generation of young designers sharing their ideas and people watching their reactions to what the designers are doing.
33:04It's really brave.
33:05They're right there and they're talking one on one with people communicating their ideas.
33:10And I just love to see there's so much garden love in the air.
33:14Sophie, is there anything better than spending time chatting to all different plants people and absorbing their passion for what they do and share?
33:35I know.
33:36I know.
33:37I just met a lady who knows everything about Noreen's.
33:39They are the real queens of unusual bulbs.
33:42Well, luckily for us, Jane is so loved wherever she goes that she's been invited back to their nursery and we get to go along for the ride.
33:52Can't wait to see it.
33:53I'm in the lovely Dandenong Ranges in Victoria and I'm looking to find a hidden gem.
34:05I know about a little family-run nursery up here that specialises in very rare bulbs and other flowery treasures.
34:14The GPS doesn't work so well up here so the nursery owners have actually put out some coloured balloons along the roadside just to lead me along the correct path.
34:23I haven't found any yet but I'll keep an eagle eye out.
34:26It might be hard to find but this rustic nursery is worth the hunt.
34:35Hidden in the middle of the National Park, it's run by mother and daughter duo Shirley and Jane Tonkin and what's special is that it's home to more than 150 species of rare bulbs from all around the world.
34:49Wow, what a lovely spot.
34:56But I must admit I'm here on a very special mission.
35:01I've heard that there's a very special bulb that they have in flower here and I want to find it.
35:07It's the holy grail of bulb growers.
35:10It's called the Crown Imperial and I've never actually seen one in flower in Australia.
35:17If the setting doesn't take your breath away, then the selection of rarities will.
35:24Luckily, Jane Tonkin is on hand to guide me through.
35:36Come on through, Jane.
35:37Oh, this is a good old igloo.
35:38Yes, it's been around for a few years now.
35:40And how many bulbs have you got growing in here?
35:43Lots of different species, probably about a hundred different ones.
35:47Hang on, hang on.
35:49Oh, what's this?
35:50Oh, you wanted to come and see the Crown Imperial.
35:53I did but I got diverted.
35:55I don't blame you.
35:56This is Narcissus asturiansis.
35:58It's a little species, miniature daffodil.
36:01It most certainly is.
36:02So native to Spain and Portugal.
36:05Oh my goodness, to see a paddock of that, wouldn't that be just lovely.
36:09Yes, and pretty much along the riverbanks and things.
36:12Okay.
36:13But it's getting people to know that rare doesn't actually mean unattainable or that you can't
36:19grow it.
36:20Yeah.
36:21Because these do grow quite well in most areas of Australia except our more tropical,
36:26humid areas.
36:27Okay.
36:28Well, they really are tiny treasures.
36:30What else have you got to show me?
36:31We've got this Crown Imperial, haven't we?
36:34Now, the Crown Imperial might be rare, but it clearly needs to join the queue.
36:41The pleasure here is in the journey and you don't really know what you're going to stumble
36:46upon next.
36:47Oh, hang on, hang on.
36:48We've missed something.
36:49Oh.
36:50Oh.
36:51Sneaked around there.
36:52Oh, now what's this?
36:54It's a Romulia.
36:55So native to South Africa.
36:58So it likes full sun.
37:00Okay.
37:01And in Australia we can grow a lot of the South African things because they have the
37:05similar sort of climates as we do here in Victoria, New South Wales and even Tassie.
37:10Isn't it spectacular, the markings on it.
37:12It looks like a little umbrella all furled up with these beautiful markings.
37:16And then the sunshine makes it come fully open like so and just beautiful inside as
37:21well.
37:22So it's Romulia monadelpha.
37:25Mum Shirley has been here since the beginning, 50 years ago when her late husband Brian Tonkin
37:32began his obsession with collecting rare plants and flowers from all corners of the globe.
37:39Hey Mum.
37:40G'day Shirley.
37:41Hello Jane.
37:42How are you?
37:43It's good to see you.
37:44Yes.
37:45Yeah.
37:46You were doing some weeding.
37:47I was doing weeding.
37:48Can't stop yourself Shirley, can you?
37:49No, I can't Jane.
37:50You've got little fingers that go .
37:52Yeah.
37:53Well we built the benches this high because they're nanny height and I don't have to bend.
37:57I've got no excuse not to weed.
37:59Good.
38:00Now 50 years for goodness sake.
38:02Yes.
38:0350 years.
38:0450 years.
38:05I married Brian in 69.
38:06Yeah.
38:07He already had a love of bulbs because he came back from the war and was enthusiastic
38:13about growing stuff.
38:15But what was his passion?
38:16Why did he have this passion?
38:18Anything that was hard to find or hard to grow was his challenge.
38:23He had to have a challenge.
38:26And we're standing right in front of these beautiful galanthas.
38:30Yes.
38:31They're lovely.
38:32Now let's talk about them because they're so special.
38:34They are.
38:35Commonly called snowdrops.
38:37This is the nivalis which is found growing wild in England.
38:42And I love them because the sun comes out and she lifts her skirt and you can see her little
38:47knickers which have got a little green lace edge.
38:50It's really lovely.
38:51And it shuts up when the sun goes down and the next day her knickers are in show again.
38:56She's a brazen little hussy isn't she?
38:58She is.
38:59She is.
39:00Did Brian have a favourite plant at all?
39:03There's a special one.
39:04And Recurva.
39:05There is the special one.
39:06The special one Imperialis was the one that he always wanted to be able to grow successfully.
39:14And now I think my darling daughter is the champion of growing for Larry Imperialis.
39:19That's nice to hear.
39:21Because she can get it to flower for me.
39:24Brian Tonkin never got to see the Imperialis.
39:27In fact, it's taken 21 years for them to be successful.
39:32But lucky for us, we don't have to wait.
39:35Can you see it yet?
39:36Ah!
39:37Yes, I can!
39:42This is such a rare treat.
39:45It's Fritillaria imperialis.
39:48Its gorgeous downward facing flowers, topped by the crown of leaves, give it its name.
39:54Reminiscent of an emperor's crown and only flowering for a few weeks at a time.
40:00These are my babies.
40:02Yeah.
40:03Babies get checked every morning.
40:04That is really stunning, isn't it?
40:06Yeah.
40:07So that's, I think, what makes it so impressive and the fact that it is rare in Australia.
40:12It's one of those things that Dad always wanted to grow because of its complexity and rarity here.
40:20This is why it's really exciting because now we can get our own fresh seed, sow it straight away and away we go.
40:27You know, it's seeing things like the imperialis that make these specialist nurseries so rewarding.
40:33But it's also the inspiration they give.
40:36Rare doesn't necessarily mean difficult to grow.
40:40So if you're into the unusual, then search out your local specialist.
40:45And they will really make your garden stand out from the crowd.
40:49Plus, the hunt is really worth it too.
40:58Good day?
40:59It's been a fantastic day.
41:01Nice to have a little stop in the shade.
41:04Refuel.
41:05Refuel.
41:06Normally I would compost this, put it in a little wax bag in my backpack, take it home.
41:12Yeah.
41:13What do you do?
41:14I generally put it in my keep cup and take it home.
41:16Right.
41:17Throw in the compost.
41:18But I've been thinking, 100,000 people over five days.
41:23It's a lot of banana skins.
41:25I reckon they've got a compost here somewhere.
41:27I might go find out.
41:28Yeah, check it out, Millie.
41:30I'm not the only one with waste.
41:32For five days, over 115,000 plant and garden lovers visit the show.
41:37Generating an enormous amount of waste.
41:39It's a theory number.
41:40400 tonnes of waste.
41:42280 of that is that organic material.
41:45This year we've chosen to trial a new way of collecting it.
41:48We've tried to make it a bit more simpler.
41:50It goes in the general.
41:51We sort it all back here.
41:52Greg manages an on-site team whose job it is to collect the bins and sort through all the waste.
41:59Bring it in, process it, put it into another product.
42:01You've got that true circular economy.
42:04But it's not just made up of food and packaging.
42:07There are hundreds of businesses at the show.
42:09Many using organic materials in their displays.
42:12Some can easily deal with their own waste.
42:15I'm going to take all of these home and compost them on the farm back to feed all of my new flowers.
42:19For others, the closed loop crew collect it for sorting.
42:23And organic waste like timber, soil, turf and mulch are collected by sustainability partner BioGrow.
42:31At the end of the show, more than 600 cubic metres of organic waste is collected and transformed into compost and other garden products like mulch.
42:41As gardeners, we know that what some see as waste is actually a valuable resource.
42:47So, it's great to see that this same approach is being applied at such scale.
42:52One of the things I love about the show are the competitions that are open to all.
43:14Like the Hanging Basket Challenge.
43:20Everyone, from school students to garden clubs, nurseries, experienced gardeners and complete newbies can enter.
43:27And there's no limit to creativity or what plants can be used.
43:32Check out this one.
43:34Everything you need to make your own herbal teas.
43:37From lemon verbena and lemongrass, we've got mints and tea bags are included.
43:47Everyone who enters needs to use the same wire basket lined with coir.
43:52They start planting several months beforehand so that the plants have time to settle into the basket and fill out.
43:59Karina has entered the hanging basket competition multiple times and has even won best in show.
44:06What draws you to hanging baskets?
44:08I think they're a great way that anyone can have something in their own garden.
44:12Just put it where you want to, fill up a blank space.
44:17But what I always think of the baskets, like when you look here, they're something that you'd have in your own garden
44:23and it's what I call a mini achievable garden.
44:26As a past winner, is there anything you're looking for in a basket?
44:31Well, usually you're looking for something that's full, uniform type of design,
44:36something even to tell the story so you can use your ornaments to actually add to that particular story.
44:43Look at the imagination in this.
44:45I know, incredible.
44:46A little, little treehouse.
44:47So you've got your little house there.
44:49Isn't that amazing?
44:50We just delicately spin that one round.
44:54And just look at these.
44:56Aren't they beautifully done?
44:58Absolutely.
44:59And I quite like this.
45:01This is a good lot of imagination here.
45:03I just love these.
45:05They just make you feel happy when you see their smiling faces.
45:08They do.
45:09And we've got strawberries in there too.
45:10And we've got some edibles and nasturtiums.
45:13It's really nice and full, this one.
45:15And the beautiful marigolds.
45:17And we're just starting to have a little bit of a fall there too.
45:20So that's very nicely done.
45:22Now, up the end, there's an amazing one.
45:25Yes.
45:26They've actually taken a hanging basket and put it on its side.
45:28That is a very challenging thing.
45:31Something that I haven't done.
45:32So if anyone's thinking of entering this hanging basket challenge,
45:44what would your words of encouragement be?
45:47Start early.
45:48Because to get a really good basket,
45:50to get all the plants looking mature and full,
45:53you really need about four months.
45:55Four months to actually start living in its home.
45:59So, after seeing all those glorious baskets,
46:12I'm inspired to have a go potting up my own.
46:15And I'm going to show you just how easy it is.
46:18Now, when you're choosing plants for your basket,
46:21you need to make sure that you choose plants with similar requirements.
46:24These are all native plants,
46:26so they're suitable for native potting soil.
46:28And make sure that you don't combine things that have different water requirements,
46:32like putting a succulent with an indoor plant that needs a lot of water.
46:36So, to get started,
46:38here I've got this beautiful dwarf kangaroo paw called bush pearl.
46:43That's going to go in as my centrepiece,
46:45a bit of height in the middle.
46:47I'm going to put a little bit of potting soil around the edge.
46:49I've got a couple of beautiful native daisies or brachioscombes.
46:57They are fantastic to bring in beneficial buds,
47:00ranging from ladybirds and hoverflies to lacewings.
47:03These are absolutely beautiful.
47:09Look at that.
47:11Gorgeous ground cover scavolas,
47:13which are really pretty.
47:14They might even bring in the native bees.
47:16And to finish it off,
47:18I'm going to use this gorgeous Dichondra silver falls.
47:21I'm going to split it up and place it around the edge.
47:24And that will actually hang down a metre or more.
47:33Okay, so in theory, I like it.
47:36So, now I'm just going to add in some extra potting media.
47:39Now, it's essential that you use a premium potting mix,
47:43suitable for the plants you're using.
47:45The most expensive mistake you'll ever make
47:48is using cheap potting soil.
47:50Water it in well and leave it for a few months
47:53for it all to grow in together.
47:55And that's going to be a picture.
47:57Hanging baskets take a little bit more work to look after
48:00because they dry out so rapidly.
48:02However, they add colour and joy to entrances and balconies.
48:06And they take your garden to a whole new level.
48:10Well, my question is,
48:24what citrus would you recommend for a beginner gardener?
48:26Now, most people would think that, as a Greek,
48:28I would say Eureka lemon.
48:30Yeah.
48:31But I'm going to push the boundaries a bit
48:33and I'm going to say,
48:34what about giving a pomelo a try?
48:36Ooh, I actually love them.
48:38Really? Yeah, absolutely.
48:39Big, thick skin.
48:40Yeah.
48:41Would you put it in a pot?
48:42You could grow it in a pot.
48:43Yeah.
48:44They do well in a pot or in the ground.
48:46And the big, thick skin gives you something
48:48that you can turn into almost a sweet delicacy as well.
48:51Mmm, that's delicious.
48:54G'day.
48:55Hi, Millie.
48:56I'm Jane.
48:57Hi, Jane.
48:58I always loved seeing your partner in Gardening Crime on TV.
49:00Squid.
49:01Oh, yeah.
49:02Is he a help?
49:03And I hear he likes vegetables.
49:04What's his favourite vegetable?
49:06Oh, that's interesting.
49:07Because it's a she.
49:08Oh.
49:09But she doesn't care.
49:11She actually does have a favourite vegetable
49:13in that I have to cage the carrots
49:15because our old dog, bless him,
49:18now Pa's taught her how to dig up your own carrots.
49:22And so now I have to sew a separate little bed for her
49:25and I have to cage ours
49:26because otherwise she harvests constantly
49:28and we lose all the carrots.
49:30But thank you for asking.
49:31Exactly.
49:32Squiddy is...
49:33I mean, look, every good garden deserves a good dog sleeping
49:37and observing it, don't they?
49:38Absolutely.
49:39Sophie, I've got this beautiful hoia inside
49:42but it's just sticky.
49:43Like, I don't know what to do.
49:45It just keeps...
49:46It's just really sticky.
49:47Here's the...
49:48I've got...
49:49Okay.
49:50Can you see that?
49:51There's honeydew
49:52and that is a symptom of a sap-sucking pest,
49:55either mealybug or scale.
49:57I think we can even see the scale there.
49:59Yeah.
50:00So those tiny brown inanimate lumps,
50:01they're sucking the sap and secrete this sweet honeydew.
50:04Okay.
50:05And that sticky in it drips
50:06and ants will often come to harvest.
50:09Have you got ants?
50:10I've got ants, yes.
50:11Okay.
50:12So ants are the bad boys.
50:13They're coming to harvest that honeydew
50:15and so they actually carry it from plant to plant to plant.
50:18So what you need to do, you need to stop the ants, right?
50:20That's really important.
50:21And you need to spray the scale with a horticultural oil
50:25which smothers the scale's breathing apparatus
50:27Okay.
50:28And it will kill it.
50:29But if you don't stop the ants, it will come back.
50:31So good luck with that.
50:39If a balcony is the only outdoor space you've got,
50:42then you know it's absolutely prime, precious real estate.
50:46This year there are five in competition.
50:49Each one has 4.8 metres by 2.4 metres to work with.
50:54There's a couple of really simple things we can take away
50:57from the design here.
50:59First of all, what they've done is rack and stack.
51:02So they've started with taller pots in the back
51:05and then dropped them down to this flat low water bowl feature.
51:09And that gives you this staggered effect.
51:12But they also protect each other
51:14and prevent the pots from drying out from the heat.
51:17And mixed in here, there's two pots of edibles
51:21so that this is a really functional garden.
51:25Here's another great idea.
51:29On balconies, your space is limited.
51:32But there's all this vertical space.
51:34In a lot of cases, balconies can be shaded
51:37or this vertical space could be south-facing.
51:40But that's still an opportunity to bring the plants in.
51:44In this case, they've used a vertical garden structure
51:48and filled it with ferns that love that kind of microclimate.
51:53But then the structure itself has a built-in bench.
51:57And inside the bench, where space is limited,
52:00you can store all those things that we need.
52:03Some potting mix, your secateurs, your watering can.
52:06What a great solution.
52:14Wow.
52:15One of the biggest challenges with people that have a balcony
52:21is that you're not allowed to disturb the finished surfaces.
52:25You can't drill in.
52:26And particularly if you're a renter, you're not allowed to repave
52:30because you can't bring extra heavy things in
52:33when something has already been engineered.
52:36Now, this system is absolutely fantastic.
52:39It's a platform system.
52:41So you can bring in a new layer of paving
52:44that doesn't affect the existing layer.
52:47It gives you this void like this where you can run pipes.
52:51If you want to run irrigation or a tap or even lighting,
52:54you can run it underneath so you've got room to move.
52:57The other thing is that void means that you can sink some planting.
53:01So it's almost as though you're planting into the ground.
53:04And look at the effect of this ground cover here creeping over your pavement.
53:09But most of all, when you combine that lightweight system with lightweight pots,
53:14it means you can do so much on a balcony.
53:17And if you're a renter, the best part is you can pack it up and take it with you.
53:23Now I'm checking out the smallest of the garden categories, border gardens.
53:30With only 2.4 by 2.4 metres to play with, these displays are like a slice of a front nature strip,
53:38a corner in a courtyard or the border alongside a fence.
53:42These gardens are all about the plants.
53:46Designers are encouraged to show off their skills in planting design,
53:50plant arrangement and horticulture.
53:53Now, there's no small amount of competition, but this is my favourite.
53:59Take a moment and immerse yourself in this border garden.
54:06It fills my heart with joy to see, yet again, this movement back towards nature.
54:15This use of native plants, an understanding, a design with them, a rewilding,
54:22a natural approach where we're putting all of those features that nature would provide
54:29for insects and wildlife, for the birds.
54:33Bring it and they will come.
54:35And we can do this in a small space, on the verge.
54:40Just imagine what our cities could be like if this type of garden was everywhere.
54:47Well, I'm fired up, but I also want to know what everyone else is feeling inspired by.
54:54We've just been looking around at these little display gardens here
54:57and we've been noticing some of the different fencing textures.
55:01There's one just behind us here with our copper fencing.
55:05Hopefully, we'll do that when we get home.
55:07Fantastic.
55:09I just went to a workshop on plants, you know, made easy,
55:12that are, you know, easy lift, and I'm very interested in that
55:15because I don't have a huge amount of time, but I love a beautiful garden,
55:19so that's what I was really excited to see.
55:27A lot of landscaping ideas.
55:29I've got a big garden that I want to, you know, fill with plants,
55:33and I'm building it still, so it's given me good ideas for that.
55:37I was very impressed in the flower section display in the main building
55:47where they use all the recycled bookcase, leather.
55:52They hang the flowers. I said, oh, geez, it's good.
55:55They recycle. No waste.
55:57Yeah.
55:58That's inspiring. I think I'm going to go home and do it.
56:01Two people who love their weekend time in the garden.
56:14What are you up to, Millie?
56:16Well, I mean, this time of the year for me is cold, cold.
56:20We go minus seven.
56:21And so outside, the growth really grinds to a bit of a halt,
56:24but I love that time for thinking and tinkering and designing.
56:28So I often head into the shed.
56:30I've got an idea to build a much larger heat mat using really affordable
56:35reptile heater, some sand, some timber.
56:38I want to get that designed, get it built so in a few weeks
56:41I can start a lot of seeds for that spring season.
56:44So that's what I'm doing, tinkering, thinking,
56:46and doing a bit of building.
56:48Tinker time.
56:49What about you, Soph?
56:50What are you up to?
56:51I'm about to plant a new orchard and it's bare root season,
56:54so I'm going to get stuck into planting new seasons
56:57as deciduous root trees.
56:58Well, I can't wait till I can get over there picking some of that fruit.
57:03As for me, my summer balcony garden has been in shade for a while now.
57:07There's lots of leftovers in there.
57:09I'm going to clear it out, rejuvenate the soil with some compost,
57:13some worm castings, a bit of manure,
57:15and just bed it down ready for my spring planting.
57:19Now, you can catch up with all the other jobs for the weekend on our website.
57:24Go on, get out there and get into it.
57:27What a fantastic time we've had together here at the show.
57:31I feel like my backpack is full of new ideas and inspiration.
57:36And remember, there are smaller garden shows all around the country
57:39and they all offer amazing things to gardeners.
57:42So be sure to check out one that's near to where you live.
57:45It's so true.
57:46I mean, in central Victoria, we have so many great shows.
57:48You've just got to hunt them down.
57:50Yep.
57:51My diary is full of shows that are coming up.
57:55Time for me to pack my bag and head back to Sydney.
57:58We will see you all next week.
58:00Bye.
58:03The creation of nature in miniature
58:05is an ancient tradition stretching back over 2,000 years.
58:09Today, I'm going to find out how to create a bonsai maple forest setting
58:13from a master of the craft and her apprentice.
58:16I'm visiting a garden where they're revegetating the bush,
58:20living lightly on the land,
58:22and they've got an experimental Australian plant garden.
58:26You'll be inspired.
58:28And we meet a scientist formulating the perfect recipe
58:32to grow some delicious ingredients.